Andrianary Ratianarivo

Andrianary Ratianarivo (1895-1949) was a pianist and composer of kalon'ny fahiny, vakondrazana and ba-gasy music from the central highlands of Madagascar. He was a major composer for the Malagasy theatrical genre that reached its peak between 1920 and 1940 at the Theatre d'Isotry in Antananarivo.[1] Ratianarivo was born in the year of Madagascar's colonization to a musician of the royal palace.[2] His pieces were typically written for piano, often with solo, duet or choral vocal accompaniment sung in the Malagasy language. He was classically trained as a conductor and composed over 500 songs and scores for theater, including an opera penned by Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo entitled Imaitsoanala (1935), which remains the only Malagasy opera. In 1929 he formed "Troupe Jeanette" in Antananarivo with musicians Rakaramanga and Jeanette;[2] this group, with new artists, continues to perform at the Theatre d'Isotry to the present.[3] His songs form part of the canon of classical Malagasy piano music. A street in downtown Antananarivo is named after him.[4]